Tartine Baking Project: #41 Chocolate Soufflé Cake

I’ve mentioned this before, but when I first set out to bake everything over the year, I paid particular attention to plotting out treats for holidays and birthdays. This particular cake screamed, “VALENTINE’S DAY!” As a Lover of Chocolate, I took the call and have been counting down to this cake for some time now. Wouldn’t you know it? For the second year in a row, The Flu has ruined my Valentine plans! What a jerk! I actually did get the cake made for Valentine’s evening, but the plan was to partake in said dessert with lady friends celebrating ‘Galentine’s Day,’ à la Leslie Knope and her gaggle of gals. (That’s a Parks and Recreation reference, just in case you felt a bit lost there.)

This was a marathon cake that turned into a dreaded chore that I just had to finish. The end was totally worth the means, but the joy of baking this afternoon was definitely just a book on a shelf rather than the vibe of my kitchen over the past couple of days.

The bottom of this cake is a thin layer of chocolate chiffon cake. (Completely worth the extra step of baking a completely different cake just to get a tiny layer!)

It’s very exciting when a recipe calls for seven eggs, and I have exactly seven eggs.

I am so in love with this clear mixing bowl. I cannot say that enough. (And my husband and child…but I tell them all the time how much I love them.)

I was worried I was going to bake this too long. I am always under baking things, and with this cake you don’t want the cake to raise up at all. It ended up puffing up a bit, even though I baked it for the minimal amount of time suggested. At this point in the game, nothing was phasing me. I honestly had a “whatever” kind of attitude, which is definitely not the norm.

At this point it suggested putting the cake in the fridge for 3 hours, or up to overnight. We had such a rocky day and even though it was Valentine’s Day, we opted to postpone that chocolatey dessert. We instead went through an assorted box of chocolates and realized we hate assorted boxes of chocolates because we don’t like most of the mix. Wow. We sound like some serious Valentine Grinches! Really, I love this day! I promise!

More chocolate!

So, we are celebrating Valentine’s Day again today! This meant more chocolate for the ganache, and a brief afternoon love day party for the three of us.

Not the prettiest cake, or even a really pretty picture of a half-way decent cake. But, this cake is so very rich and smooth and delicious. Remember Genuwine? That’s exactly how I think he marketed himself in 1997. “Rich, smooth and delicious.”

I love this line: “the joy of baking this afternoon was definitely just a book on a shelf rather than the vibe of my kitchen over the past couple of days”

Hope that you are over your flu! And it looks like your efforts were worth it because that cake is amazing. Its the sort of cake that I’d try while out for dinner but probably never attempt to bake for myself.

Holy cats, this cake looks terrific!! Parks and Rec is a never-ending source of humorous quotes and great ideas (Galentine’s Day and Salgar, hello!?) We JUST saw a commercial for a CD called “That’s My Jam” including Genuwine and we both perked up at the mention of his name. Such a good flashback! This post is all sorts of awesome, as usual.

Mission

I’m navigating my way through the amazing cookbook “Tartine” written by the geniuses behind the delicious San Francisco bakery. Now happily living in Michigan with my family, I miss the days when I could stand in line at the bakery in the morning, or grab a loaf of bread for dinner at a friend’s house. Miles and miles removed, I sometimes even find myself dreaming of sweet fruit galletes or a simple brioche. Seeing how I wake up bummed, I’m bound and determined to make every single thing, page 1 to 214, but not necessarily in that order.